A family dog protecting his home was killed overnight with a bow and arrow.

Animal control officers took the 2-year-old dog, a neutered male American Staffordshire terrier-mix named Polo, into custody, said Dan DeSousa, deputy director of the county Department of Animal Services. The dog will be held in quarantine for 10 days to determine whether it has rabies.

It will be up to the owners to decide whether to reclaim the dog, DeSousa said.